A strange things happens to me every year. After the gifts are exchanged and unwrapped, after the meals are eaten, after the family visits and festivities, after the church services, after the decorations are down, after the celebrations and fireworks and bowl games, it hits me.

I'm ready to celebrate Christmas now.

Sure, I feel it throughout the season, but it seems I feel it most profoundly after it's over. I guess that hearkens to the hustle and bustle of the season. There's so much going on that you don't have time to really sit down and ponder it in your heart until the whirlwind ceases and it's back to life as normal. I suppose that's when the meaning of the season finally has a chance to sink it, and you see it more clearly when things are back to normal and it's just another day in front of you.

A friend once said that we should feel the joy of Christ's birth all year, and that your faith needs work if you only feel it at Christmas. I see the point. While we have the church seasons to highlight, study, and celebrate each thing in it's proper place, we should feel the significance of it all in everyday life. Celebration and fasting seasons give us the focus we need to see where each piece fits. But the truth is that we can feel the emotions of each season through our own seasons of life. Sometimes, you sorrow while others rejoice. And sometimes, you rejoice when the season is for repentance and reflection. They're kind of like the lines in a parking lot: they're guidelines, but not binding. In real life, emotions know no season and aren't bound by times or seasons.

Today, I took the manger scene out of the cedar chest and pondered the true meaning of the season just passed for a moment. No, it didn't happen in front of the tree or around a dining room table filled with family. It was personal and private, but it was just as significant. I did get it, and give thanks for it.

I hope you all had a safe and Happy holiday season. And as we embark on another week of work this winter, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Comments are closed.

Sherri the Writer

By day, I'm a program assistant. By night, I'm an independent author. My fiction is a dark mirror to the reality I see every day.